65// Why Tiny Steps Trump Big Plans

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Are you feeling stuck in your current clinical environment? Do you want to make a change in your nursing career, but not sure what to do next? Exhausted, burnt out, and maybe even ready for different leadership? I'm Bonnie Meadows, a board-certified clinical nurse specialist, influential leader, career coach, and wellbeing coach. Being in the nursing and healthcare profession since 2004, I have felt stuck and unsure about what was next for me. I wanted to be fulfilled in my purpose, to have a voice at the table, and to be a resource for others. I kept telling myself I wanted more, but didn't have the direction I needed until I found clarity and career growth strategies for experienced nurses like me. In this podcast, you will find simple, tactical steps that allow you to gain the clarity you need, solutions for how to grow even without supportive leadership, and guidelines for setting boundaries at work so that you can grow purposefully in your career as a nurse with a graduate degree who makes a huge impact in the profession. So get ready to trade your scrubs for yoga pants. Pop in those earbuds and let's chat. Hello and welcome back to the podcast Ambitious Nurse. So happy to be back with you all. I know it's been a while since my last podcast episode, and I have been getting used to my president's role within the North Carolina Nurses Association and then, adjusting to a new role. So I've got a lot of adjusting going on and, as you all may have been aware of, there have been some pretty, significant events involving nursing. Across the nation and in healthcare. So when there are heavy events involving nursing and healthcare, I am usually at the table, making a lot of decisions on what are we gonna say, how are we going to move in this, what are, our actions, all of those types of things. And those decisions can be very heavy decisions because you are trying to get a pulse on what's the right thing to do, what side of justice are you trying to lean on? Not that there's a side, but there is a side, let's just be honest. And you're trying to navigate things so that. You really just wanna do the right thing for the greater good. Like my motto is, what are we doing for the greater good and how does this impact the greater good? So when those things are happening, that means that all of my emotional and mental energy is there, which. Doesn't always allow me to show up on the podcast, but nevertheless, I am back. And here to bring you, episodes periodically. As I may have stated before, they won't be coming out as frequently, but I wanna let you know that I'm here. I'm here to serve you. I'm always here for coaching if you need it. But I am excited to just kind of share what I am learning, encourage you in your career plans and in your career path and hopefully, I trust that whatever is shared here, you can take that with you to help grow your career. And I am always here if you want to go deeper. Nevertheless, let's get into this next episode. You know what's interesting? I became the president of our state nurses association and I didn't wake up one day and decide, yeah, I'm, that's what I'm gonna do like that. That's all my long-term goals right there. That was not my plan. It started seven years ago with something ridiculously small. I showed up at one convention meeting. I joined the organization and then I decided I wanted to go to convention. I wanted to go to that particular meeting. Back then, it lasted about three days. That's it, just one. And then I showed up to another one that was in my region. So where the convention was, it wasn't necessarily near my house, but we also had regional ambassadors. And then I volunteered for one tiny committee role. I volunteered for the committee role that was right there in the space where I worked. All of that to say and to make clear how real career growth happens. It's not in the big dramatic moments, but in the small ones that feel like they don't even count. And here's the thing, most of us are waiting for like the perfect moment, or we gotta have the perfect move, or I gotta have the right degree, or I gotta have that one job opportunity. But while we're waiting, we're missing all of the small moves that actually can build the career we want. So today I'm going to break down why small steps beat big leaps every single time, and I'm giving you one tiny action you can take this week. So in this episode you'll learn why your brain actually resists big changes, how small changes compound over time, and the one simple rule that changed everything for me. So let's go. Lemme tell you about this book that completely shifted how I approach my. Thought process, and this didn't necessarily shape my career, but it has really shaped my thought process over the last year and a half. And it's a book called The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson. The simple concept is. Small, smart choices plus consistency plus time equals a radical difference. It's the tiny drop in the pond that makes that ripple effect in your career and in your life. There are three reasons. Small steps don't feel worth it. And by small steps, I mean, let's just go ahead and start throwing out some examples. Showing up at an in-person event. Volunteering just to be on a committee like you might not have a whole lot to do and there might not even be any big names at the table, but you're volunteering just to do the work or you're a part of a small group and you're volunteering to be a part of an even smaller task force or subcommittee to do this work. So those are small, those are very small steps, and they don't necessarily feel worth it like you want to be a part of, you wanna be named on the big project, and you want to lead this particular thing over here. And so those small steps, they don't necessarily feel worth it in the time that you do them first. They're easy to do. And if we're talking about our habits, like even just the small steps of updating our resumes and things like that, or the small steps of every week, writing down something that we have accomplished, those things are easy to do, which also means that they're easy not to do. You could read 10 pages of a professional development book today. That's easy. And it takes you about 10 minutes. But you could also just not do that. You could watch some Netflix, 'cause Netflix is right there. Instagram is calling. And tomorrow you'll tell yourself, I'll start tomorrow. So here's another reason why small steps don't really feel worth it. The results are invisible at first. If you read 10 pages today. Will your career magically transform? No. If you show up at that meeting tomorrow, will your career magically transform? Will you meet the person who you've been looking to meet for a long time and wanting to have coffee and connect with them? Will your career magically change? No, but here's what research shows, and this blew my mind. If you. Get just 1% better every day for a year. You'll be 30 times, 37 times better by the end of that year. That's from James Clear's atomic Habits. So to put that in perspective, if you take the certification course and that's all you do, and you don't necessarily apply it or continue to work on it. That's not 1% better. 1% better is yes, you study for the certification course. You take the certification course, and then after that, every day you're taking 20 minutes, 10 to 15 minutes, maybe five days out of the week, three days out of the week to read about something in that area that you can enhance. You're wanting to grow in leadership, but we've not read anything. You're taking time to read 10 to 15 minutes of a book on leadership every single day, and then you're using those steps. That's that 1% better, and you'll be set 37 times better by the end of the year. I don't know about you, but there are several areas of my life. I would like to be 37 times better by the end of the year. Third, they seem insignificant. One conversation at a conference. One email to a potential mentor. One article, about your specialty, you're curious about. None of those feel like they matter until six months later when that conference connection recommends you for a role or that mentor opens a door you didn't know existed or that article that you read. You're now bringing back to your remembrance in a conversation that you are having with one of your leaders. That tips them to know you're engaged and you're ready to lead something else. I used to give up on things. If I didn't see results within three weeks, I'd be like, oh, okay, well this just doesn't work. I'm sure we can all relate, but here's what I learned. The magic isn't in the moment. It's in the repetition. Repetition is what we do well. As nurses, we get into our specialties and we start to see patients and the disease processes over and over again, and we get better at noticing, we get better at problem solving, we get better at anticipating, and we can take the same thought process to our careers. It is the repetition of showing up and being present and reading the articles that really helps you to expand and grow your career. So let's make this real. I'm not going to give you an overwhelming action plan today. We'll get there in the next couple of episodes 'cause we're gonna address these tiny steps, in the next couple of episodes. Right now, I want you to pick one micro goal for this week. Just one. Here are your options. Read five to 10 pages of a professional development book every day this week. Many of you want to grow in leadership. Find a leadership book. Another good book could be something about communication. Another good book could be something about productivity and time management. And I'm not talking about productivity and FTEs, I'm talking about productivity and getting your projects done in a timely manner. It could be a book about whatever, as long as it applies to your professional development. And sometimes even your personal development. Set a timer for 10 to 15 minutes. That's it. No audiobook, actual pages or Kindle pages. You can play music in the background, but I am learning that there's something special about actually reading the words. Option two, introduce yourself to one person you don't normally talk to at work. A nurse on another unit. Someone from a different department, just a genuine, Hey, what's your name? You know, how's it going over here? Or if you don't know what they do, you know, what do you do here? These small introductions, you just don't know where they will lead you in the future. And then here's your option. Option three. Spend five minutes, literally set a timer thinking about what you actually value in your career. So this is a journaling prompt. Is it autonomy? Is it learning? Is it flexibility? Is it advocacy? Just write down what matters to you and why does that matter for you? For you now? And how do you see that mattering to you down the line? It doesn't necessarily have to be, oh, what are you gonna do in five years? But it's just kind of where do you see this path going? Because you don't wanna make decisions based on right now, you wanna make decisions based on what this decision might impact in the long run. So there were times when, and this is not necessarily writing, but I would make a decision to do something based on how it was going to impact my resume down the line, not whether it was gonna impact my resume where I currently was. So just think about it in that way. And here's a practical tip. I use, get a colored sticky note and write today's small step on it, or get your journal and write today's small step on it and put it somewhere where you can see it, because you don't need to have it all figured out. You just need to take the next step. I'm not even gonna say take the next right step because some of you aren't even taking the next step. If you're thinking, but Bonnie, I have been taking steps and they are not getting me anywhere, then it is time to evaluate your actions and shift to a more strategic right next step That's for that group. Like you are the action takers, but you feel like you are swirling, then you need to get more strategic and take the next right step. And if you need help with that, that is what I help nurses figure out. In my one-on-one career clarity coaching strategy calls, we are getting to the nitty gritty of what have you already done. What skills do you have and where do you think you want to go? Like, what's the route you think you want to go and we will critically think through like what are some appropriate next steps for you. All right, so there's your homework. Pick one of those three options. Do it this week. That's it. In the next episode, we're diving into something practical, a simple five step checklist to help you get clarity on where you're headed. No fluff. Just action actionable steps, and if this resonated with you, hit subscribe or follow. So you don't miss another episode and share this with a nurse friend who's feeling stuck. Sometimes we need the reminder that the small steps count. I'll see you in the next one. I hope you enjoyed today's episode. If so, would you take 30 seconds and share it with another nurse who may be unsure of where to go next in their career or maybe needs some career clarity? Also, please leave a quick review for the show on Apple Podcast. It brings me so much joy and so much encouragement to know this podcast is helping you. Now, go get the career you want and not the one you settle for. And I'll meet you back here next Thursday for another episode. See you soon.